Behind the Couch

2015 Dir. Russell England During the 17th century, students of a prestigious school are spared a gruesome death by plague after they ritualistically murder four of their own in a Satanic pact. In present times, the building is still used as a boarding school, and when it shuts down for midterm holidays, six students from the cadet corps must remain behind to patrol the grounds as part of an initiative in basic military training. As the night progresses, personal conflicts become apparent within the group, and as they delve deeper into the history of the school, they are beset by increasingly odd occurrences... Head over to Exquisite Terror to read my full review . 

2014 Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer “ And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you .” Friedrich Nietzsche Starry Eyes is a powerful, deeply unsettling rumination on the cost of fame and stardom and the monstrous things desperately ambitious people are prepared to do in order to obtain it. Unfurling as a blood-dark character study, the narrative follows Sarah (Alexandra Essoe), a young, eager-to-prove-herself Hollywood actress whose encounter with a sinister production company sends her reeling downwards into a harrowing maelstrom of despair, madness, diabolism and body-horror, as she attempts to make her dreams of fame a reality. At any cost. Head over to Exquisite Terror to read my full review. 

Set over the course of one night in a too-quiet house in which a satanic altar and the remnants of an infant sacrifice are discovered, The Devil’s Business charts the doomed descent of two contract killers into a web of conspiracy, blood-sacrifice and diabolism. Scored by Crippled Black Phoenix front-man Justin Greaves, the music for The Devil’s Business is a suitably low-key, moody affair punctuated by moments of soaring post-rock. Greaves specialises in cinematic soundscapes – which he describes as ‘end-time ballads’ – rife with apocalyptic connotations and macabre subject matter, but always imbued with a shard of hope. Head over to Paracinema to read my article on it and listen to a track.  The following article was published to Paracinema.net on 30th January 2015 The Devil’s Business – Justin Greaves  Greaves produces cinematic, post-rock soundscapes, rife with apocalyptic connotations and macabre subject matter, but always imbued with a shard of hope.  Se...

1970 Dir. Daniel Haller When she becomes acquainted with softly spoken oddball Wilbur Whateley (Dean Stockwell), little does student Nancy Wagner (Sandra Dee) realise that he plans to use her in a ghastly ritual to summon forth the Old Ones; ancient entities slumbering in another dimension, waiting until the stars are right so they can return to earth. And procreate.  Based on Lovecraft’s story of the same name (written in 1928, published in 1929), this was Daniel Haller’s second adaption of the author’s work, following on from Die Monster Die . Lovecraft’s story concerns Wilbur Whateley, the son of a strange albino woman, Lavinia Whateley, and ‘unknown father’, and the weird events that surround his hometown of Dunwich. Wilbur is instructed in the ways of the occult by his fiendish grandfather and eventually attempts to acquire a copy of The Necronomicon to help him summon the Old Ones. Cattle, and people, go missing in the surrounding area and there’s talk of something hi...

1972 Dir. Sergio Martino When she loses her unborn baby in a car accident, a grieving woman becomes the target of a Satanic cult who may have been responsible for the death of her mother many years ago… Sergio Martino’s All the Colours of the Dark is a psychedelic trip of a giallo, filtered through the gothic aesthetics of Hammer Horror and the Satanic Panic-induced paranoia of Rosemary’s Baby . Reconceptualising the usual conventions of the giallo into a plot about a Satanic cult’s advances on a traumatised woman, it falls into a miniscule group of films critic Kim Newman dubs ‘giallo-fantastico’; gialli which boast overtly supernatural aspects as well as typical troupes such as sexual perversion, blackmail and murder. Adding to the delirious nature of the plot are abstract dream sequences and myriad moments which cunningly blur the line between reality and deranged fantasy. Jane (Edwige Fenech) has increasing panic attacks, hallucinations and nightmares which are woven into ...

2009 Dir. Sam Drog A motley crew of bumbling Satanists kidnap a waitress to offer her up as a bride to the Devil and to become the mortal mother of the antichrist. However, her boyfriend and no-bullshit-taking Highway Patrol Officer brother have other ideas and set out to rescue her and give the Satanists an ass kicking of Biblical proportions. Unfortunately, their ill-planned intervention merely serves to botch the unholy ritual in progress and all the power of hell is inadvertently transferred into an unlikely host: a recently sacrificed chicken. Now, as the forces of good and evil battle it out between themselves, a demonic, flesh-eating barnyard animal is threatening to engulf their very souls and recruit them in its growing army of the living dead! Dear reader, is it possible to imagine anything more fearsome and terrifying than an undead chicken, possessed by the devil and intent on killing innocent human victims ? I thought not. As incredible as it may sound, a Satanic Kil...

2009 Dir. Ti West In order to obtain the money she needs for a down payment on a new apartment, cash-strapped college student Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) takes on a babysitting job in a remote mansion. However when Samantha is taken to the house by her friend Megan (Greta Gerwig), she is informed by the resident odd couple, Mr. and Mrs. Ulman (Tom Noonan and Mary Woronov), that they do not have any children, and it will be Mr Ulman’s elderly mother she’ll be looking after while they are out to view a full lunar eclipse. It isn't long before Samantha realizes that something isn’t right in the house and as the lunar eclipse darkens the night sky, Samantha realises to her horror that the Ulman’s have diabolical plans for her… Can she survive the night? Will she escape with her soul intact? With titles such as The Roost and Trigger Man , director Ti West has been making a name for himself on the horror circuit. Deftly utilising minuscule budgets and exhibiting a real penchant for...

As evidenced in this month’s release of Amer , and films such as Darkness Surrounds Roberta, Eyes of Crystal and Lust for Vengeance – the legacy of the Italian giallo continues to bleed into the work of contemporary filmmakers. Another new title to wear the influence of Argento/Bava/Martino et al on its sleeve is director John Michael Elfers’ feature directorial debut,  Finale . A supernaturally tinged tale, Finale focuses on a family torn apart by the death of the oldest son - who seemingly died by suicide. The boy’s mother is convinced he was the victim of a satanic cult. As her investigation leads her deeper into a dark world of paranoia, death and despair, she not only risks tearing her fragile family apart, but also her own sanity, in an attempt to uncover the dark truth about her beloved son's fate... I recently had the pleasure to chat with John Michael Elfers about the tragic origins of his feature debut, shooting on a micro-budget and the influence of Italian horror....

2009 Dir. John Michael Elfers A family is torn apart by the death of the oldest son - who seemingly took his own life. Helen (Carolyn Hauck) is convinced that her son was the victim of a bizarre satanic cult. Her investigation not only threatens to tear her family apart, but also her own sanity. As she begins to descend into a dark world of paranoia, death and despair, she is stalked by a demonic, mirror-dwelling figure… Finale is a film positively saturated in a dark and rich gothic atmosphere, seeping with dread and anxiety. Director John Michael Elfers has a keen eye and a knack for startling visuals, and he imbues his film with the look and feel of lurid supernaturally tinged Italian horror flicks from the Seventies. At times his camera is possessed by exactly the same creativity and panache that haunted the early work of Raimi, Argento and Jackson. Finale at times not only recalls the lurid atmospherics of Bava and Argento, particularly the latter’s Mother of Tears ; with ...

Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, this moody and hauntingly beautiful film easily recalls the work of Val Lewton and is as drenched in foreboding and creepy atmospherics as the likes of Cat People or The Seventh Victim . The opening shots of mysterious hooded figures emerging from the mists with clawed and pointing hands are an unnerving delight. The story follows Nan (Venetia Stevenson), a college student who journeys to a creepy town in order to research its bloody and witchcraft-laden past. As Nan’s professor, Christopher Lee provides another knowing and sinisterly suave performance. Much tension is garnered from whether or not he knows more about the creepy goings on in the sinister town than he lets on, and the wry dialogue between him and Nan’s brother sets us on our guard: ‘Have you ever met a witch?’, the brother asks. ‘Perhaps’, comes the cool reply.   The Lewton tradition of creating terror through suggestion is utilised here with graceful aplomb, particularly ...